mrbrown

I am surprised a cyclist is not writing in the papers and complaining about the number of dangerous drivers who endanger cyclists every day. I am even more surprised to see this letter from a driver. (FYI, we drive on the left side of the road here in Singapore, opposite to the American way).

Here is a letter to Singapore's TODAY newspaper regarding the "danger" of cyclists. My comments are in italics:

Danger posed by many cyclists
Letter from IRIS CELESTE LIM

LATELY, many people have taken to cycling as an alternative means of transport, perhaps due to the increased cost of transportation.

Wow, that's a good thing, isn't it?

While cycling is a healthy activity, it is troubling to see so many cyclists on the roads — from housing estates to the Central Business District.

Oh wait, it's not, according to Iris. Why troubling? Not used to sharing the road?

Some cyclists do not stick to the sides of the roads. Many have been seen riding in the middle of a three or four-lane road — particularly noticeable in the MacRitchie/Upper Thomson area.

Cyclists are not supposed to STICK to the sides of the roads. They are allowed to take the lane if necessary. The law says as near to the side of the road "as practicable". The correct riding position is just outside the double yellow lines, giving a bike some space on the left in case they need to swerve. Stick too close to the left and a bus will come and squeeze you off the road. And also, sometimes it is necessary to cycle in the middle of the left lane to avoid parked cars opening their doors. And while it is wrong for bikes to be in the middle of a three or four lane road without a valid reason, some bikes are there to make a right turn at the junction. Just like a car would filter right to turn right. In those cases, it is not wrong.

An act like that poses a danger to both cyclists and drivers. I've noticed how drivers swerve into part of the next lane just to avoid the cyclists.

Or they can wait patiently behind until it is safe to overtake a cyclist too. People do that all the time in other countries, without complaints.

The matter is further complicated in the evenings and nights, when lighting conditions are not at optimum levels.

Cyclists with adequate lighting and blinkies should not be a problem for cars to see them. And drivers should be looking out for all kinds of vehicles on the road anyway, bicycles included (yes, bicycles are also vehicles, surprise surprise).

As a driver, I am concerned that the increase in the number of cyclists on the roads could lead to accidents.

No. The increase in the number of cyclists on the roads does not cause accidents. Unsafe cyclists and aggressive drivers who don't give way lead to accidents.

It is difficult for large and fast-moving vehicles like cars, vans and lorries to co-exist safely with bicycles on our roads, where the speed limits are beyond what a normal bicycle can possibly achieve.

Utter nonsense. Bicycles all over the world co-exist with fast moving vehicles, every single day. Even on roads without bicycle lanes there. Singapore is not special that way. The key is for large and fast-moving vehicles like cars, vans and lorries to SLOW DOWN and be aware of bicycles on the road. And for cyclists to ride defensively and safely.

Could the Land Transport Authority please comment on this dangerous situation and how we can all effectively practise safety on the roads?

Or are you asking the LTA to say they will legislate and REDUCE the number of bikes on the road so you can have the road to yourself again? Hmmm.

-------

For context, I thought it would be good to show you a Cycling safety video produced by the Traffic Police here. While I agree with many of the pointers, some of the suggestions are just plain unsafe. Ride near the curb? That's crazy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrvrTuYbOfk

MIKEnDC

I hope that what she's asking for is better cyclists and cycling. In my opinion anyway, I think that's what is indeed needed. In countries that do not have a more integrated cycling culture (like the U.S., and apparently Malaysia as well), that would go a long way towards making road travel safe for everyone.

What I'm afraid she is asking for, however, is just less cyclists. She clearly thought the thing through enough to put pen to paper and actually send it in. But she, like many car-oriented people, hasn't thought it through far enough to question the way she goes about her own business. ("Dammit! How am I supposed to drive with all these #*$&#(#*@ed bicycles all over the place!?")

It seems like it's up to us then, as cyclists, to be exemplary in our conduct on the roads--to be "better than good"--in the effort to get the public perception of bicycles more accepted in the mainstream. Pretty hard to do sometimes in the face of the conduct of some motorists...

Chris L

Just some idiot who had a bad day at work spouting off. The best thing to do is ignore it. When he realises nobody cares what he thinks, he'll go and find a more constructive way to spend his time.

Cyclaholic

What vehichle(s) are involved in virtually all the road deaths? cars and trucks? then yes, all those cars and trucks do pose a huge safety issue and it's about time they were legislated off the roads to end the carnage.

Tapeworm21

They have cars in Singapore? Zing.

H23Nutcase

Yes, but the registration and license plate fees are outrageously high. SMRT can get you anywhere you need to go, except for Sentosa Island though.


H23NC,

whatsmyname

hey, mybrown, if you're in Singapore, how about writing a witty, short letter in reply that just says something like "Iris is mistaking good news for bad news when she notes the increase in the number of cyclists in our fair city. The more people choose to commute by bike, the cleaner the air is, the less gas we're using, and the more space there is on the road for drivers like Iris and more space on the bus for everyone else. Obviously all cyclists should obey the law, but this is a trend that should be encouraged, not suppressed. And if Iris ever feels like joining in, I'd be more than happy to show her how to do it!"

The problem with people like us (bike nerds) is that we can write long, pedantic letters and come over as humorless cranks ( ). Shorter, more amusing letters are more likely to get printed by editors than extended rants.

free2move

Many drivers are not cyclists, and they do not cycle on the road, so they do not understand what we cyclists go through everyday. Although I do see the occasional acts of kindness towards me when I ride, the behaviour of the drivers here is appalling.

We cyclists can rant and rant all we want, but ultimately it is the person behind the wheel that is responsible for his/her actions.

n4zou

+1
Especially urban assault vehicles with wide tires, air ducts, spoilers, and engines capable of propelling the urban urban assault vehicle at more than twice the legal speed limit of even high speed interstate highways. There is no second amendment protection of urban assault vehicles so all vehicles should be limited to 75 MPH and no more than 4 cylinders except for heavy transport vehicles.

H23Nutcase

Free2move, you brought up a good point.

Most drivers in Asia tend to behave this way. Yes, this includes China as well even though Chinese drivers get exposure to enormous amount cyclists everyday.

Here in Atlanta, drivers have just about the same or lesser cycling experience compared to Singapore. However, when it comes to cyclists being on Atlanta's tight/curvy/hilly roads drivers are pretty courteous to cyclists.

With Atlanta being the 2nd most congested traffic in US and one of worst city for cyclists, it took me by surprise to see Atlanta has better road sharing etiquette than Singapore. I don't know why Singaporean drivers demonstrate such behavior.

Maybe they haven't accepted the fact that bicycle can be used as daily commute transportation rather as recreational activity or maybe it's because due to the recent surge in cyclists being on the road.

H23NC,

mrbrown

More letters to the press in Singapore about bike safety.

Iris, who wrote to another paper, says:
So what she really wants is for the government to legislate bikes OFF the roads. Not better cyclists and cycling.

MP Irene Ng brought this up in Parliament recently (finally, someone in there said something!):
In another letter, a Mr Zainuddin Mohd Ismail responds to the Ministry of Transport's reply to MP Irene Ng:

Make roads safer for everyone I REFER to last Friday's articles about the Budget Debate on the Ministry of Transport.
Do you guys face similar problems in your countries getting the authorities to integrate bicycling into the transport system?

gbcb

In a massive step backwards, Shanghai started banning bikes from certain roads a few years back (you can still get pretty much everywhere on a bike, but it often involves a lot of complicated re-routing). Fortunately, I think the government is finding after years of car-focused growth that bikes are a good thing, and the banning doesn't seem to have spread.

I did notice when riding in Singapore that the government doesn't really understand the idea of bicycles as legitimate transportation. There are some nice bike trails (I rode a 40km loop including the East Coast Park that opened up last year), but they are clearly designed as recreational, and often require bikes to ride on sidewalks. There's really nothing set up for bikes as vehicles. I heard the argument while I was there that Singapore is just too small to add in proper bike infrastructure (a specious argument — have they not heard of sharrows?).

Anyway, I'm not all that surprised at the original letter, with Singapore being the car-crazy place that it is... it costs so much to buy and drive a car there that many people who have them do tend to think rather highly of themselves. Still, it's frustrating... there's some great cycling in Singapore, and the idea of the government banning or severely restricting bikes is worrying.

I'd be interested in hearing where this goes, mrbrown. Keep us posted.

whatsmyname

I agree. I mean, you can't imagine the damage that my trucks have suffered from cyclists over the years!

But seriously, as a densely-populated, oil-free city state with an expanding population and an austere streak, I am surprised that Singapore is so down on bike use.

phantompong

If there's anyone Parliament should be listening to about cyclists and road sharing, it's a Tampines MP. So of course it goes in one ear and out the other in Parliament. (I live in Tampines and after nearly getting knocked down by a car riding PC, I now ride VC unless I'm on the Park Connector Network. My bike will not go on the pavement when I'm on it, legal or otherwise. Not to mention all the silly "dismount and push" signs.)

I find it strange that Lim Hwee Hua is still thinking in terms of "allocating space". Cyclists have been riding on the pavement and on the road since god knows when. We have the space all right. What we need now is protocol that will allow cyclists and other road users to co-exist, so drivers won't get in a tizzy when they see a cyclist on the road and they're not sure whether they can safely pass, and cyclists have legal recourse when they are injured by malignant motorists, despite obeying the rules of the road. That doesn't require space or additional resources, only a bit of common sense (which we clearly lack as a country) and an extra section in the Highway Code.